Comparative Productivity of Criminal Record Checks by Federal Investigators and Contractors

Abstract

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. This study empirically examined differences in how federal employee and contractor background investigators access criminal records and the rate at which they identify offenders in the course of national security clearance background investigations. Differences were found in strategies employed for conducting record checks across the different states. Federal agents relied more often on statewide checks than contractors. But, when statewide checks were not used, both federal agents and contractors relied more on local law enforcement agencies, following up with court checks only as needed. Overall, federal agents were more likely to surface records in many more states than were contractors. Based on states where enough subjects were investigated to permit analysis, and relative to the proportions of subjects identified with records by federal agents, as of early 2002, contractors may have been missing 15% to 46% of subjects with at least misdemeanor-type arrests, charges, or convictions, depending on whether subjects self-disclosed information on security questionnaires and on the type of investigation (Initial Secret or Confidential, SSBI, or Periodic Reinvestigation). PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR PrefaceThis report compares the productivity of criminal record checks conducted by federal employee investigators and contractors for national security purposes. With the transfer of the personnel security investigation function from the DoD Defense Security Service to the Office of Personnel Management, more criminal record checks then ever before will be conducted by contractors. The findings from this study should be useful to decisionmakers in charting the best course for the assignment of this important investigative function.This report provides data on whether any differences exist between DoD federal agents and contractors. Depending on the interests and needs of decisionmakers in response to this report, a follow-up study will be conducted to provide further analysis and explore reasons for differences. The results of the follow-up study should provide direction as to whether the appropriate response to di...

Results of a National Driver Registration Statistical Match

“…Miscoded data were cleaned both manually and electronically using Microsoft Visual Basic macros. More detailed descriptions of the method of coding ROIs are provided in Buck (2004) and Buck and Rose (2004). An excerpt from Buck (2004) is provided in Appendix B.…”

“…Once NDR checks are operational, ongoing research should be conducted to determine whether NDR checks could reliably replace time-consuming and potentially less effective and more costly local and state agency checks when those checks are conducted for the sole purpose of investigating driving records. As Buck (2004) showed, in some states such as Vermont and Iowa, investigators are checking state departments of transportation or motor vehicles in addition to criminal repositories. Use of the NDR could replace these checks and improve coverage by adding checks for the same individuals for every state in the country.…”

“…This system is called the National Driver Register Problem Driver Pointer System (56 FR 41394 (1991)). It is fully automated and provides responses to electronic queries instantaneously (23 CFR Part 1327(2004). The Pointer System contains personal identifiers of problem drivers, states in which reportable problems occurred, and violation codes used by all states and the NDR (see Appendix A).…”

Options for Using Military Waiver Information in Personnel Security Clearance Investigations

“…Recruiters, who were interviewed indicated that enlistment applicants sometimes travel with recruiters to law enforcement agencies and request copies of their own records. 1 While authority to access criminal records for national security purposes is granted to federal agencies via the Security Clearance and Information Act of 1985 (SCIA), Buck (2004) found jurisdictional interpretations of SCIA may be different than was intended and may consequently affect access to criminal records. In some cases, DSS federal and contract investigators were denied access to law enforcement criminal records, and were instead redirected to court record systems.…”